Book of Mormon Lesson 18: "God Himself . . .Shall Redeem His People"

In Isaiah 6 (or 2 Nephi 16), Isaiah responds to the question of the Lord, Whom shall I send and who will go for us? With the familiar phrase, Here am I; send me. Knowing the difficulty and danger of the work, and understanding something of the disinterest of his people, he nevertheless offered himself for a most dangerous assignment: Here am I; send me.

We know that the Savior said similar words when the Father asked for someone to undertake the awful burden of the Atonement (see Moses 4:1; Abr. 3:27). I believe that there were a great many others who in the pre-mortal life or in mortality must have responded in a similar way.

1. To the question, Who will take a final message of repentance to the world before the great flood? Noah must have said, Here am I; send me!

2. When the Lord sent forth a pre-mortal call for someone to preach repentance to the Jews and prepare the way for the Savior, John the Baptist no doubt offered himself with this same sentiment: Here am I; send me!

3. To the question, Who will warn Jerusalem of its danger before the Babylonian destruction? Lehi and Jeremiah and others must have said, Here am I; send me!

4. When the survival of the Jews was at stake, and someone was needed to visit the king and plead for relief, Esther, in essence, said to her cousin Mordecai, Here am I; send me!

5. And when the time came for someone to warn the court and people of King Noah, Abinadi stepped forth: Here am I; send me!

What is it about this message this warning that impels otherwise normal disciples to lay their lives on the line, and to come forth from obscurity and safety to hazard everything? The story of Abinadi before Noah will offer at least some answers to this question. As you read this lesson and study and ponder the associated scriptures, watch for indications about Abinadi’s reasons for risking his life to preach truth to a truly despotic king and his wicked followers.

(Mosiah 12, 13)

Abinadi came twice to the court of Noah. The context makes it seem that he must have gone into hiding after his first visit. The Lord delivered him out of their hands (Mos. 11:26) when they first sought to take away his life, but they sought from that time forth to take him. (Mos. 11:29) When he came back with a second warning because they had ignored the first, he came among them in disguise, hoping to have time to deliver his message before they learned his identity, I suppose. But he was apprehended and taken before the king and then the priests for a Nephite inquisition. In fact, Abinadi indicated, I have suffered myself that I have fallen into your hands (Mosiah 17:9), which suggests that there was an element of volunteering in his capture.

The priests asked him a number of questions, to which he responded in a way that astonished them (see Mos. 12:19). Finally, one of them asked this question, and it is this question from among many questions that was engraven in the plates which would later be abridged and become part of the Book of Mormon. Clearly there is something here we are supposed to learn. Here is the question:

Perhaps the purpose of the question was to point out that Abinadi’s message did not the fit the pattern described by Isaiah. His second message contained nothing of beauty, good tidings, peace, or good tidings of good. Abinadi had very little to say about lifting up the voice, about singing, about joy, comfort, redemption, or salvation. His message was about judgment.

Abinadi answered this question at some length in Mosiah 15:13-18. But before we discuss that answer, let us consider the nature of the imagery Isaiah is using. In the day in which Isaiah wrote this passage, messages were often carried by runners, men who sprinted from place to place with documents of importance. Carrying a message of victory a message of good tidings was a great honor. Consider the following example:

The allusion in Isaiah’s description is to the beautiful feet of messengers who would run with the most important message ever carried in the history of the world. This also would be a message worth dying for, as Abinadi shows us.

As Abinadi answered this question, he made reference to Those who have published peace (Mos. 15:14, 15), those that are still publishing peace (Mos. 15:16), those who shall hereafter publish peace (Mos. 15:17), and to the Savior himself.

All those who have carried this message of peace and hope and joy and salvation have beautiful feet. Perhaps one of the great compliments you could pay to any missionary would be to make the observation that he or she has beautiful feet!

All this was lost on the priests of Noah, of course. No matter what they said to Abinadi, they did not know the commandments and they did not keep them. No doubt they possessed written copies of them, but that was not enough. The commandments can never have the ability to purify and exalt us, and we can never know them, until they are written in the right place.

So Abinadi taught them the commandments. He quoted the first 2 of the 10 Commandments and challenged the priests with them.

Noah at this point had had all the fun he could stand. He was not inclined to tolerate this kind of disrespect from anyone. Away with this fellow, he said, and slay him; for what have we do with him, for he is mad (Mos. 13:1).

On at least four occasions in the scriptures, it appears that the Lord has protected his messengers (with the beautiful feet) so that they could deliver his message.

1.When the Sanhedrin caught Stephen and accused him of blasphemy, they saw his face as it had been the face of an angel (Acts 6:15).

2.When Laman and Lemuel attempted to kill Nephi by throwing him into the sea, he said, Touch me not, for I am filled with the power of God, even unto the consuming of my flesh; and whoso shall lay his hands upon me shall wither even as a dried reed; and he shall be as naught before the power of God, for God shall smite him (1 Nephi 17:48).

3.When Lehi and Nephi were in the Lamanite prison, and enemies came to slay them, they did shine exceedingly, even as the faces of angels (Hel. 5:36).

4.It also happened to Abinadi. Touch me not, for God shall smite you if ye lay your hands upon me, for I have not delivered the message which the Lord sent me to deliver; neither have I told you that which ye requested that I should tell; therefore, God will not suffer that I shall be destroyed at this time. . . . Now it came to pass after Abinadi had spoken these words that the people of king Noah durst not lay their hands on him, for the Spirit of the Lord was upon him; and his face shone with exceeding luster . . . (Mos. 13:3,5).

Abinadi then quoted the remainder of the 10 commandments to them and taught them of the purpose of the Law of Moses (see Mosiah 13:11-24, 27-35). Abinadi explained that no one could be saved by the Law of Moses.

Notice who Abinadi quoted in Mosiah 14. His intent was to show that even the prophets who lived the Law of Moses spoke of the Atonement. Nephi must have referred to such passages as these when he wrote this:

Review Mosiah 14:2-12 and note (Mark? Highlight?) the things that Isaiah knew about the atoning sacrifice of the Savior. I have recorded some below, along with a suggestion or two about what some of them might mean.

- (14:2) He will grow up as a tender plant (He will need care and protection like any child)

- (14:2) He will not be of a form or beauty to attract us (like a root out of dry ground, Isaiah says. Have you ever pulled a carrot from an unwatered garden plot?)

- (14:3) He will be despised and rejected

- (14:3) He will be a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief

- (14:3) We hid our faces from him (most of the multitudes turned away)

- (14:3) We did not understand what he could do for us

- (14:4) He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows

- (14:5) He was wounded for our transgressions

- (14:5) With his stripes we are healed

- (14:7) He was oppressed and afflicted but he did not cry out

- (14:8) He was cut off from the living (the crucifixion)

- (14:9) He made his grave with the wicked and with the rich (he was crucified between to thieves and was laid in the tomb of a rich man)

- (14:10) After he shall have performed the Atonement, he shall see his seed (in the Spirit World he saw a multitude of those who had believed in him)

- (14:10) He shall prolong his day (he will be resurrected)

- (14:11) God shall see the suffering of this Son and the demands of justice will be satisfied

- (14:11,12) He will bear the iniquities of many (all) people

What are the results of the Savior’s willingness to atone for us? Abinadi speaks of them in Mosiah 15:7-9, 19-25.

- (15:8) He breaks the bands of death and brings about the resurrection

- (15:8) He has power to make intercession for the sons of men

- (15:9) He is filled with compassion and mercy

- (15:9) He stands between us and the demands of justice

- (15:9 He has satisfied the demands of justice

- (15:19) He saves all mankind from perishing

- (15:23) The righteous are raised to dwell with God and have eternal life

- (15:25) Little children have eternal life

For the time being, there is a probation granted in which men can repent or not according to the knowledge they have and the desires of their hearts. But a time will come it will be too late to choose.

How much better it will be for us if we learn to kneel from love and gratitude rather than fear and condemnation!

The issue that will determine our final state is not what we were or what we intend one day to be, but what we are. Thus, if we are repentant and obedient, no matter what may have transpired previously in our lives, the Lord promises to turn scarlet sins to white and crimson colored sins to wool (see Isaiah 1:18); to never mention our sins to us again (see Ezek. 18:21,22); to subdue our sins and throw them into the depths of the sea (see Micah 7:19); to blot out like a thick cloud our transgressions (Isaiah 44:22); and to not remember our sins (see Isaiah 43:25). This, he has promised, he will do as often as we truly repent (see Mosiah 26:30). But if we are encompassed in sin, and if we do not repent, we have no promises at all.

“But remember that he that persists in his own carnal nature, and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, remaineth in his fallen state and the devil hath all power over him. Therefore, he is as though there was no redemption made, being an enemy to God; and also is the devil an enemy to God” (Mosiah 16:5).

A careful reading of Mosiah 17:1,2 makes it clear that Abinadi hears the impassioned plea of Alma to spare him (Abinadi). It was only after Alma had been cast out and men sent to slay him (Mosiah 17:3) that guards surrounded Abinadi and took him away to his martyrdom. We have often commented that Abinadi may have died without the awareness of a single convert. But he must have had some hope. Hearing the words of Alma and seeing his ejection from this order of wicked priests, Abinadi may have believed that some good would come of his mission. And indeed it did.

My colleague, President Andrew Horton, has made a careful study of this matter and concluded that as a direct result of the ministry of Abinadi which was carried on by Alma the Elder and his descendants, 23,707 people united with the Church, and, in addition to this, thirteen other large groups of people (whose numbers are not specified) were converted. As you might have guessed, neither Noah nor any of his priests is included in this number.

Their charge against Abinadi was false doctrine. The king and his priests must have been feverish to find something anything to give a semblance of legality to their judgment.

Notice the deliverance they offered Abinadi. He would be put to death for teaching what they determined to be false doctrine, unless he would take back all the words which [he had] spoken evil concerning Noah and his people (Mosiah 17:8).

Abinadi had beautiful feet he was running with the most important message in the world. It was a message of beauty, good tidings, peace, lifting up the voice, singing, joy, comfort, redemption, and salvation. The words he had spoken were a package, the warning,s and the promises, and he could not recall any of them. I can see him in my mind’s eye, standing before the king and his court, erect, defiant, powerful, fearless, attended no doubt by a multitude of unseen beings cheering and rejoicing as he spoke: